


Reasons Papyrus Would Kill a Human

by ArgentDandelion



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Horrortale (Undertale), Analysis, Character Analysis, Gen, HorrorTale Toriel (Undertale), Horrortale Papyrus (Undertale), Horrortale Sans (Undertale), Insanity, Killing, Nonfiction, Starvation, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-07
Updated: 2020-02-04
Packaged: 2020-09-28 07:56:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20422550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArgentDandelion/pseuds/ArgentDandelion
Summary: Dispels misconceptions about HorrorTale Papyrus's erratic behavior, including how he wouldn't have to be a sadistic madman to kill humans.





	1. Chapter 1

_HorrorTale Papyrus_ picture. From Sour-Apple-Studios. ** (The following post is a response to this [reblog chain](https://insanelyadd.tumblr.com/post/183211185983/badgertablet-odderancyart-warning-for#notes). It was impossible to reblog directly without making the post far too long.) **

_[HorrorTale](https://sour-apple-studios.tumblr.com/)_ is a work that takes place after the Empress Undyne ending. The CORE, which produces all the Underground’s magic and also all/most of its food supply, has unexpectedly shut down. No one is able to fix it. A long time passes; food supplies diminish. The Underground is starving. After an argument with Undyne, Sans announces a new “policy”: any humans that fall down will be harvested for food, rather than SOULs.[1](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/184721916973/reasons-papyrus-would-kill-a-human#fn:1)

In this response chain, the posters characterize _HorrorTale_ Papyrus as a ruthless, sadistic madman, and claim he has to be like this because he is starving.

I disagree with this argument. I disagree with the idea he would become his moral opposite because he is starving, and I disagree with the implication he could only be dangerous to humans if he became ruthless and sadistic from starvation.

**Personality**

Consider Papyrus’s personality traits. He is a “skeleton with high standards”, whose puzzles are very fair. He wants to be “prestigious, powerful, and popular”. He wants to be “popular”, in the sense of having lots of friends, most of all, to the point he befriends Frisk for sharing his love of puzzles.

He’s compassionate to the point of offering mercy to a human he knows has murdered a whole lot of people, possibly even people he knew. Related to this (and possibly high self-control) is how he is the only monster in the game who cannot ever kill Frisk; even Toriel can kill Frisk by accident. Rather than killing Frisk, Papyrus will capture Frisk when Frisk is at 1 HP and then put them in a shed. When Frisk (who Papyrus is trying to capture to achieve his goals) escapes, Papyrus even gets worried about Frisk.

However, in the words of Insanelyadd, “this man [HorrorTale Papyrus] would trick you into jumping into a bear trap and laugh and then eat you”.

This sadistic nature is the opposite of how Papyrus acts. Those before me have made the argument he has to have this sort of personality to do what must be done, but, beyond warping the integrity of his characterization, I find this implausible.

## Reasons

**Saving Monsters**

Papyrus does not have to be sadistic and insane to be dangerous to humans. Though he might let himself starve to death rather than abandon his principles and kill humans, what about others? Would he let others die when he could have saved them? This has, in fact, happened before in HorrorTale, even to children and people Papyrus would know (i.e., Dogamy). If killing one human would save multiple people from starvation, would Papyrus act upon his compassion?

Furthermore, if he knew people would love and admire him for providing food, it could be even more of an incentive. He gives up on capturing Frisk because he learns he can get what he wants (friendship) by befriending Frisk instead. In contrast, in HorrorTale he could obviously get what he wants by killing a human and giving away the meat.

**Saving Humanity**

Still, perhaps Papyrus thinks killing a human isn’t worth saving monsters (for a while) or becoming popular. But…what if he thinks him killing humans is the best option for humans, too?

Papyrus has very good control over his magic. Even when distracted talking about Sans and eventually being in the Royal Guard, he produces fast, complicated bullet patterns, bullet constructions, and great numbers of bullets. (In fact, he can make his bullets move as fast as Sans’.) He can even inflict zero damage: no one else, not even Toriel, can do this.

Some monsters’ patterns, compared to Papyrus’s, are crude, slow, or weak. If Papyrus kills the human, he can ensure her death will be quick and painless. Indeed, he could probably kill a human so quickly the human wouldn’t even know what was happening, sparing them the stress of the situation.

The biggest reason he’d kill a human, though, is his niceness. Undyne is much more committed to war with humanity than Asgore. Undyne surely won’t wait to collect seven SOULs: she’ll absorb just one, pass through the Barrier, and probably get the rest by killing humans. After that, she’ll have the power of a god, and monsters will be at war with humanity.

But if Papyrus kills a human, he can absorb the human’s SOUL. With the human’s SOUL, he can leave for the Surface, bring back food, and politely ask (or barter with) humans for some SOULs of recently-dead humans. He knows Undyne won’t be so merciful.

Ergo, if Papyrus kills one human, he can prevent any more monsters and humans from dying with a minimum of suffering, and improve all their lives. (though mostly monsters’ lives)

* * *

  1. One wonders why they don’t do both. Do some vigilantes absorb human SOULs, try to cross the Barrier, and get killed on the way or on the Surface?On a related note, a theoretical Papyrus in a HorrorTale-like situation might feel happier about his decision to kill a human when he discovers the human is still conscious as an absorbed SOUL. (There’s no way he’d know this from the start, though.) Perhaps he’d explain his reasoning, be forgiven, and perform the preferred burial rites with whatever is left of the human’s body after monsters have picked it clean. [↩︎](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/184721916973/reasons-papyrus-would-kill-a-human#fnref:1)


	2. HorrorTale Papyrus: Neither Insane nor Sadistic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Following from the previous chapter, which said Papyrus didn't need to be sadistic or insane to kill humans, this chapter argues HorrorTale Papyrus is likely not insane or sadistic at all.

**Warnings and Caveats:** The HorrorTale work is grotesque and horrific, with blood, violence, and occasional swearing. Although the textual medium and non-gory pictures make this analysis much less disturbing than the actual comic, it may still frighten some readers.

SourAppleStudios’ comic, HorrorTale, is set eight years after the Empress Undyne Neutral ending. The CORE, which makes the magic for all/almost all the Underground’s food supply, stops working. Nobody can fix it, and the Underground faces an extended famine. Sans, having received a gruesome head injury, tells Snowdin residents Undyne’s new “policy”: any humans that fall underground will be “harvested” for food, not SOULs.

Sans believes this is the only way for Snowdin’s people to survive, but kind, compassionate Papyrus refuses to go along: he’d rather starve to death than eat human flesh. So Sans tricks him into cooking and eating a human organ. Papyrus makes it into “crooked spaghetti”, causing his teeth to become long, jagged, crooked and bleeding, and his mind to apparently warp to that of an insane, sadistic person.

Except…he is neither insane nor sadistic.

## Behavior

Some of Papyrus’ behavior seems to support the idea Papyrus has gone insane and sadistic.  
In brief, Papyrus’s behavior is disturbing not simply because he kills, but how he kills, how he acts as he kills, and how he interacts with others outside of killing. Unlike other characters, Papyrus tries to kill Aliza in an indirect, orderly way through his “puzzles”. He gives very basic information about each puzzle, saying nothing of each puzzle’s danger, and acts as if running kids through a gauntlet of death traps and sickening choices is a normal, cheery occasion.

The first puzzle is an oversized bear trap that decapitates Aliza. (she comes back with Determination)  
When Aliza sinks into the tar-like quicksand-snow of the second puzzle, Papyrus’s full face isn’t seen, but he seems to be smiling and he doesn’t respond to her screams.  
For the third “puzzle”, Aliza must make a seemingly harmless choice between hot dogs and spaghetti. The correct option, spaghetti, has Papyrus feeding her human meat, and she only realizes the ingredients after solving the puzzle.  
The fourth “puzzle” has Papyrus telling Aliza to go to Grillby’s, telling her the patrons are friendly. Yet, after hearing their sad tale of starvation, the patrons try to fry her alive, and Aliza only escapes by using one of her “freebies” (ability to pass a puzzle) to escape what was secretly a puzzle. As she does so, Papyrus gives a big, suspicious grin.

His prolonged, rule-bound, impractical methods can be contrasted with Toriel and Sans’ methods. When Toriel knows Aliza is escaping the Ruins, she calls out for Sans, who instantly kills Aliza through bones springing out of the ground past the Ruins door. On different occasions, Sans horrifically injures or kills Aliza: just for kicks in a warped joy-buzzer prank, because she made the wrong choice in the third “puzzle” (selecting hot dogs instead of spaghetti), because he suspects she cheated in a puzzle (due to reloading), or because he couldn’t resist trying to eat her when she was half-fried and smelled like food.

Outside of killing, Papyrus seems odd in easily catching Aliza, but letting her go anyway. Rather than hiding behind a lamp, as in-game, Aliza hides behind a corpse suspended from a branch. Papyrus joyously, easily captures her, but then he gets suspicious, believing her behavior is part of a devious plan to outsmart him. To this, Sans says: “Whoa paps. sweet deduction skills. might be wiser to, uh. skip the puzzles…and take her straight to #5.” However, Papyrus believes it’s too risky to progress to Step 5 in his plans, and goes through his puzzles as usual.  
Papyrus also seems to forget what a “freebie” for a puzzle is, that he made up the rules, and why he chose three. He even argues with Sans that giving three freebies is much too high (confusing “freebies” with “frisbees” in the process), making Sans remind him the number was adjusted up because no one got to the “grand finale”.

## Rebuttals

Based on these deeds, it’s easy to describe HorrorTale Papyrus as “insane” and “sadistic”, and explain his behavior by those properties. Yet, that’s neglecting one crucial detail: anyone can become messed up in such awful circumstances. Believing Papyrus’s actions are only possible if he were estranged from reality or found inflicting pain pleasurable shows ignorance on how people act in horrific situations. Certainly, if Papyrus had a good life with plenty of food and acted the same way he did in HorrorTale, he probably would be insane and sadistic, but he had to endure eight years of famine, and the deaths of humans ensure his and his neighbors’ survival.

### Papyrus is Not Sadistic

According to Merriam-Webster, “sadistic” means “taking pleasure in the infliction of pain, punishment, or humiliation on others”. Although Papyrus is willing to kill humans, and uses painful traps to do so, and most of the evidence for his sadism is lacking (since Papyrus’s face isn’t seen) or doesn’t match up. Only one piece of evidence, Papyrus smiling as Aliza dodges being fried alive, suggests he enjoys suffering…and it could be that it’s just his neutral expression, since Papyrus often smiles.  
While Papyrus also seems to be smiling as Aliza screams as she sinks in the second puzzle, his face is not fully visible. He may simply have been spacing out, or using his default expression of a smile as Aliza sinks. If anything, it’s Sans who’s sadistic, due to his methods of killing, inflicting pain, and punishing.

Furthermore, it’s not necessarily sadistic to offer humans human meat. One explanation for Papyrus giving Aliza spaghetti with human meat is that he feels sympathy for her: he knows what it’s like to be very hungry. (and human meat is the only food he has) It’s not out of the question he would want to minimize her suffering, even if he’s trying to eat her. After all, when slaughtering animals, people often care that the animal does not suffer unnecessarily. It’s also possible he wanted the human-hunt to be “fair”, even if he was desperate, and he believed Aliza couldn’t properly “compete” if she were starving. Papyrus doesn’t seem disappointed when Aliza survives puzzles, though he was annoyed she (apparently) did not even try the second puzzle. Papyrus even compliments Aliza on her “exemplary performance” before the third puzzle.

### Papyrus is Not Insane

If one defines "insanity” as meaning “unable to understand reality”, then HorrorTale Papyrus is not insane. He fully understands what is going on, and the consequences of his actions. He surely added “freebies” to his puzzles because he knows his puzzles are lethal, and adding freebies is the only way to make them hypothetically survivable and therefore “fair”.

One might suggest he is insane to not kill Aliza as quickly as possible, as he is very hungry. Even Sans, who’s somewhat less patient now, suggests skipping most of the puzzles in favor of going to Puzzle #5.

Furthermore, it might seem insane (or sadistic) to not kill her painlessly. When Aliza is about to escape the Ruins, Toriel signals Sans to kill her. Sans’ bone attacks spring from the ground, and Aliza dies near-instantly. This quick, unexpected death would surely minimize Aliza’s suffering: it shows Toriel’s harsh but merciful choice to keep Aliza’s SOUL out of the war-obsessed Empress Undyne’s hands.

Although Papyrus could quickly and painlessly kill Aliza by sniping her from afar, he may have such a strong sense of integrity and self-control as to delay eating a delicious meal (to him) for several hours, even in famine. His sense of integrity may override his compassion…if he’s even thoroughly thinking about his motives at all, as his hunger may have clouded his thinking.

Perhaps one thinks the very fact he’s resorting to killing and eating sentient beings (and a harmless child, no less!*) shows his insanity. However, even humans have eaten other humans in extreme situations, regardless of insanity or sadism. Often, this is after starving people have tried every other option. Given Papyrus’s compassion and the fact HorrorTale takes place eight years after the Empress Undyne Neutral ending, he’s surely had time to try everything else.

### Red Herrings

Some of Papyrus’s behavior might seem to support his insanity, until one realizes he had strange personality quirks at the start. He seems more forgetful than in _Undertale_, as he debates his freebie system and confuses it with “frisbees”. Still, his immense hunger over the years may have worn away at his memory. In-game, Papyrus bizarrely believes Frisk is insulting him so he can feel better about fighting Frisk, and that the insults hide a hidden affection, making Frisk an “emotional cactus”. Thus, Papyrus’s belief Aliza was suspiciously easy to capture isn’t out of character for him, and not a sign of insanity.

Papyrus defends his use of puzzles, rather than directly killing humans, by saying: “But then how would we pass the time?“ As bizarre as this seems, even people in horrific situations may try to find games to play, such as playing card games or making chess sets from crumbs, stones, wood or candle wax. After all, it’s not as if Papyrus can control when humans arrive, so he’d need to do something while he waited. Since he spent so much time setting up puzzles before the Empress Undyne ending, he may very well be trying to cling to normality by configuring his puzzles.

## Conclusion

The Drunk Bunny NPC at Grillby’s claims "years of hunger have gnawed all the kindness right out of [Sans’] bones”. The same may have happened to Papyrus, if not so thoroughly, for although Papyrus is undoubtedly messed-up, he is neither insane nor sadistic. Rather, the horrible situation probably tipped Papyrus’s psychology into whatever helped him (or others) survive, and so drained his empathy and made him more numb.

As the HorrorTale character sheet (made in 2016, but still relevant) points out, he “Doesn’t dislike humans, but is highly motivated in feeding his friends one way or another”. While it’s possible Papyrus would rather starve to death than kill humans, he might kill anyway to feed his friends. His impractical methods are surely caused by conflict between his principles and motivation, rather than sadism. Rather than being insane, he might be strangely principled: a HorrorTale character sheet even emphasizes he’s “the only character with some sense of morality.”

Those who have been forced to kill, and those who have eat human flesh out of necessity, can eventually recover and become functional (if not quite psychologically intact) individuals. Should HorrorTale’s Papyrus ever get to the surface, his sheer self-control and principles should give him the happiest fate of all the characters.

**Related Reading**

[What is LOVE?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22683370) (Hypothesis on the loss of empathy of gaining LOVE; relevant to Papyrus's behavior)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Originally not in the same series.)

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on my [Tumblr](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/). Feel free to comment on this article there or here.


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